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Yes, the Red Barn Restaurant on Northfield Road in Warrensville Heights. My parents were suspicious of McDonald’s and their mysterious hex on pre-teens. So off we went to The Red Barn where the chicken, burgers and fries all smelled the same and tasted likewise.

I’m not sure if this was a local chain, but my parents always liked helping out the little guys and not the corporate behemoths.

You could smell the Red Barn a few blocks away. We did not have air conditioning in our car in 1969 so the windows were always down.

I remember my parents getting the box dinners for my sister and I, and enjoying them inside the urban rural décor. It was kinda county for suburban kids.

We dined at the Red Barn on July 4, 1969. We had just gotten into our car after dinner and the sky took a mean turn. My father had driven one block down Northfield Road when the storm opened up on us. The car shook, the rain seemed to penetrate the hood, and we could not see anything outside.

We made it home in one piece that night, others did not. I will never forget that Summer night in Cleveland. The Red Barn, cheap family food in a box, and nasty weather.

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